To Start Anew
by halfmyheart
Summary: Sam looked down to hide her expression, but as she was led out into the bright sunlight she couldn’t help but feel a sense of hope and dread. Chapter 5 up.
1. Chapter 1

I don't own them? Thanks for ruining my day!

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"If I could start again a million miles away…." the man trailed off and stared into the darkness.

The half moon cast a shadow over his face as he turned from the warmth of the fire. The memory of his story made the young woman sitting across from him move farther away from the fire too, but it wasn't the icy cold of the desert night that sent shivers down her spine.

She thought briefly of running away, but she didn't know where she was much less how to find her way home. The stars above were shrouded by the accursed darkness. In the distance she heard a long bloodcurdling howl echoing down a nearby canyon, wolves. The world, it seemed, was against her.

She sighed and began to study the man before her. He was tall and muscular. She shivered again; those hands could snap her neck like a twig. His face was hard as stone, though his eyes showed her no reason to be afraid. Tomorrow they would make their exodus from the desert and make their way to the city. She turned over on the hard ground tying to find a comfortable spot to stretch out, but she never took her eyes off of the man. She still wasn't sure if she trusted him.

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"Samantha? Samantha wake up."

Sam rolled over onto her back and stretched. She could smell breakfast cooking on the fire, eggs.

She sighed, three weeks of eating nothing but eggs had turned her against them. She would be glad to finally add some variety to her diet once they safely arrived in the city at nightfall.

"Here eat something; we still have a lot of ground to cover before we reach the capital."

Sam reluctantly took the plate he offered her.

"I'm sorry about this. I would like to keep you but…" He trailed away.

Sam looked up to study the man's face.

She was his slave, and had been for the past three months after a mission went awry. He was a good master but he needed the money so he was selling her to the highest bidder.

Sam cringed as she thought about who that bidder might be. Most likely one of the system lords that frequented the slave markets of this world.

"Let's go."

Sam slung the packs over her shoulders and took up her place walking behind her master.

By the time they reached the walled city she was ready to collapse from exhaustion and hunger.

Her master turned to look at her once more.

"I'm sorry. I hope that your new master is as kind to you as I was." He reached up and removed his slave collar from her neck, then he took the packs from her, and without so much as a goodbye he disappeared out of the slave pens.

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Sam didn't recognize the name of the system lord that she now belonged to. He was probably just a lackey for one of the big bads.

She sat in the holding cell and fiddled absently with the jewel in her new slave collar, wonder what purpose it served, when the door opened. Her breath caught in her throat as she recognized the Goa'uld standing before her.

Quickly she looked down to hid her expression, but as she was led out into the bright sunlight she couldn't help but feel a sense of hope and dread.


	2. Chapter 2

Sam sat in the bright courtyard, her hands and ankles bound by a thick rope. Three heavily armed Jaffa stood at attention around her. She was waiting to be transferred to the system lords ship out in orbit, but due to a minor legal issue that had arose after her purchase, the said system lord was now in a heated dispute with the local slave authorities.

While Sam sat baking in the mid afternoon sun she used the free time to look back over the past few months, but most of all, how she had landed in her present situation.

**Flashback**

It was supposed to be a routine mission. A meet and greet with the locals of the planet Kekoa, but nothing was ever routine when it came to sg1.

Everything was going smooth at first. The planet was a partially advance civilization in some areas while still being decadent and backwards in others. The local officials were very hospitable. They were willing to share certain useful technologies and even enter into a trade agreement, but then the Overlords appeared and things quickly turned icy.

Sam wasn't sure exactly what happened next because things happened so fast. She was quickly rushed from the room by female slaves. On the way to her temporary quarters she was informed of the darker side of Kekoa. It was a patriarchal state, and women on the planet had only two functions. One was a common house slave, the other was as breeders.

Sam remembered sitting in her spacious state room, staring at the Kekoan sky through the small window, when the door opened and three men entered carrying ropes. She remembered being held down and something sharp pricked her arm, and then she floated away into oblivious darkness.

When she awoke she was lying on a raised platform. A man was speaking very fast in a language she didn't understand as many male faces peered over the platform to look at the blonde beauty.

It didn't take Sam long to realize that she was being sold in a slave market. Panic seized her and the instinct to fight and escape overtook her. She tried to sit up and run, but whatever the men had injected into her body seemed to have temporarily paralyzed her. The harder she tried to make herself move, the sicker she began to feel, until she finally gave up and stared at the ceiling as the speaking man droned on.

Eventually, the bidding stopped, and she was moved from the platform and taken to the bathing chamber. The slaves their striped and washed her. When her skin was rubbed red she was given a slave tunic, but no shoes. Then she was forced to wait in the cramped quarters until her new 'master' was ready to leave.

His name was Asim. He expected her to address him as such. He was a moisture farmer from the desert, and he needed a slave to keep his house in order. That was three months ago, before Kekoa's economy bottomed out. Asim needed to sell her to pay off his debt and keep his farm.

Thus, Sam had once again found herself sitting on the raised dial as eager men tried desperately to out bid each other for the most prized slave in the market.

**Present **

Sam looked up as the debate between the slave authorities and system lord escalated to an all out brawl. Several broken bones and quite a few deflated egos later Sam was hauled to her feet and marched to the rings.

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She stood as close to the man as she dared. Occasionally she would chance a glance in his direction, but he never once looked at her, at least not until they were safely alone in his throne room aboard the ship.

It was then that Sam realized how much danger she was really in, much more than she had initially thought.

Her life hung by a thread, and it was the system lord who held the string.


	3. Chapter 3

Pain, indescribable pain. It coursed through every fiber of her being, blinding her, bringing her to her knees. She tried so hard to cry out, to make it stop, to end it, but she couldn't. Instead she fell backwards onto the cold, unforgiving, stone floor. She was certain that she was staring death in the face, but the devils eyes weren't red, they were brown.

She lay on her back, bleeding and broken. Silently, she prayed for the end to come. Her prayer became a litany. Over and over in her mind she repeated it, but the pain and agony of the torture increased and obliterated all coherent thought from her mind. Soon she was screaming, but the torture never ceased.

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Sam blinked as she awoke in the bright light of thesarcophagus. She groaned as she was pulled from it and thrown into her cell once more. She didn't know how long she had been a prisoner, or how many times she had been revived in the sarcophagus after her answers failed to satisfy her captor. The days began to blur together until she wasn't sure if it was day or night anymore. All she knew was that her body hurt from the endless torture and that she was exhausted and hungry.

Lying on a pile of straw in the corner she curled up into a tight ball. She found herself thinking of Asim, of how kind he had been. She actually found herself missing him. She even missed that stupid goat that she had to share her bed with. He was smelly, but at least he was company. Alone in her tiny prison Sam felt completely empty. Empty and alone. It wasn't a good feeling, and it wasn't something that she wanted to dwell on for very long. She closed her eyes and dreamed of home.

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"The iris code!"

"No," she said hoarsely.

Sam closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable, but the pain never came. She opened her eyes to see the system lord standing in front of her.

"Why must you put yourself through this? Why not just tell me what I want to know and end the suffering, because eventually my patience will run out, and when that happens I have another means of extracting the information from you."

"What," said Sam, "make me a host?"

Ba'al smiled. "You would make a lovely queen." He ran a hand over her face and down her body. "Perhaps…" He turned away and picked up the pain stick.

"The iris codes," he repeated.

Sam closed her eyes again but did not answer. The pain immediately followed.

The torture seemed to go on forever, but it was momentarily interrupted by a harassed looking Jaffa.

After awhile Sam heard him whisper to the Jaffa, "Fine, bring him."

"We'll have to continue this later," he said with a final touch of the pain stick. "Hopefully, you will be more talkative then."

Sam was unchained from the wall and walked to the door. On her way out she spotted the person that Ba'al and the Jaffa had been whispering about. His face was cold, and his eyes were filled with hatred at the sight of her.

Somehow, things had just gone from bad to worse.


	4. Chapter 4

Sam fought furiously against the ropes that held her to the wall with all of her strength, but she couldn't break free. The harder she pulled the tighter they became until she finally gave up in a tired rage.

"Is that all you have" taunted Ba'al from his throne across the room. "I thought that you were stronger than that."

Sam glared at him, "let me go and I'll show you what I've got."

"Ohhh…" he said with a suggestive smile.

Sam looked away in disgust, "not like that!"

"You are truly entertaining Samantha, but my patience is wearing thin!" He twirled a dagger on the arm of his chair. "Tell me what I want to know."

"No."

He stood and descended the dais on which his throne sat. She forced herself to watch him as he walked up to her, pointing the dagger dangerously close to her heart. She cringed, remembering the familiar feeling of that cold hard steel sinking into her unprotected flesh.

"Again" he asked, letting the point of the dagger rest on the flesh above her heart.

"No."

"Then tell me what I want to know."

He was so close that Sam could feel his breath on her cheek. She wanted to kick him, or at least to spit in his face, but she knew that it would do no good. He'd kill her, revive her, and then start his torture all over again. But if she told him what he wanted to know…or at least a slightly manipulated version he wouldn't kill her. He'd send her back to her cell, and while he was out on a wild goose chase she would have plenty of time to think up a way to escape…if he believed her. Fortunately, she was spared the decision as a Jaffa approached.

"My Lord Shu wishes to have an audience with you."

"Tell him I'm busy," said Ba'al never taking his eyes off of Sam.

"But my lord…" Ba'al rounded on the Jaffa.

"Please my lord," said the Jaffa dropping to one knee in a subservient manner, "he says that it is urgent. He has news of SG-1."

Ba'al's mood changed instantly. He smiled and allowed the hand with the dagger to drop harmlessly to his side. "Show him in. This should be interesting." He turned to look at Sam, "pay attention to what he says because you **will** fill in any of the gaps once he is gone."

Sam was relieved when Ba'al returned to his throne to await the arrival of Lord Shu, but every single muscle tensed when the door opened to grant Shu entrance. Ba'al actually stood to welcome his guest, but stopped short.

"You're not Lord Shu," he shouted angrily. "What is this?"

Sam watched in apprehensive silence and gasped as the newcomer moved into her field of vision. He wore the robes of the man Sam had last seen as she was being dragged back to her cell, but he wasn't the same man. He was balding and had a face that Sam knew all too well.

She started to call out to him but a glint of steel caught her eye as it flew through the air. Pain exploded in her chest as Ba'al's dagger embedded itself deep within her tender flesh. She fell forward against the ropes and found just enough strength to call out to the man who was now fighting with Ba'al, but her voice only came out as a whisper and she wasn't sure if he had heard her.

"Dad!"


	5. Chapter 5

In the midst of battle Jacob was momentarily distracted when he head Sam call out to him. He knocked Ba'al off balance and chanced a glance in Sam's direction. Hatred like he had never known surged through him, giving him strength that he had never thought he was capable of. Ba'al was the younger man and therefore was quicker and more agile, but Jacob had a cause. He was fighting to save his daughter, to maim and hopefully kill her captor; he was fighting for his Sammie. This gave him a distinct advantage over his adversary. Utilizing his new found strength Jacob sent Ba'al crashing into the wall near his throne.

"For Sammie," his whispered as he grabbed the nearest object and brought it crashing down with amazing force on top of Ba'al's head. He heard a satisfying crack and a smile spread across his face as Ba'al slumped onto the floor, his eyes glowed and dimmed.

He crossed the room to his daughter and fear gripped his heart. _Please don't let her be dead, please don't let her be dead!_

"Sam?" No answer. "We have to get you out of here." He removed a knife from his belt and cut the ropes that held her to the wall and she slumped, unconscious into his arms. Jacob quickly checked for a pulse, praying against the inevitable, but he was slightly relieved by the faint beat that he felt underneath the tips of his fingers. Sam was hurt bad and if he didn't get her out of there soon she wasn't going to make it.

Jacob made his way towards the ring room, careful to stay hidden in the shadows. Suddenly he stopped as a group of Jaffa ran by yelling and pointing in the direction that he had just come from.

_They found Ba'al! It's too soon! _ He threw caution to the wind as the Jaffa disappeared around the corner. Running as fast as he could and carrying the extra weight of Sam, Jacob made it to the ring room within five minuets.

_Hold on Sam_ he thought savagely. _Everything's gonna be alright._

But everything wasn't alright. He may have eluded the Jaffa on the ground, but they were on to him and they weren't going to let him get away in space.

Jacob braced himself after shot after shot hit his tiny ship. _One more shot and the shields are gone _said Selmak.

_One more shot and so are we, _snapped Jacob_. Hold on, I'm getting us out of here. _

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Sam was aware of two things when she next awoke: one, that her chest felt like it had exploded, and two, that she was abroad a Tok'ra vessel of some kind. She didn't remember leaving the palace. In fact the last thing she remembered was being chained to a wall…..that's when it hit her. Everything can flooding back, the torture, the knife, the fight…her dad.

"Dad?"

"Sam, don't move," he advised from somewhere far above her. "Your hurt bad and all I have is a hand device."

"Dad, what happened?"

"Later. Rest now," he said placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Sam nodded and closed her eyes as the pain returned again. It wasn't until she was almost asleep that she started to panic. Her dad had said that she was hurt bad, and she remembered the knife in her chest, what if she never woke up.

She tried to tell him, to get him to keep her awake, she tried to say _Dad, help me_, but her tongue was heavy and the words wouldn't come. Instead the darkness closed in around her and held her tight in its grasp.


	6. Chapter 6

Jacob didn't know how long they drifted in space before someone picked up their distress signal, but he had never been happier to see a ship approaching in his life. Even from a distance it was a welcoming sight.

Sam had slipped into a coma a few hours earlier and Jacob was beginning to lose hope as he watch the life slowly ebb from his daughters still body. She was pale and cold and nothing he did was able to stop the flow of blood. Sam's shirt and Jacob's hand were stained a bright shade crimson that had darkened to almost black.

_Black, _thought Jacob. _Why does it have to be black? Black is a sign of death and mourning. _He looked over at Sam and felt a tear fall from his eye. _I'm not mourning, not yet. Sam's still alive, and I won't let her die!_

--- --- ---

Selmak had long since retreated to give Jacob his privacy. She thought it best, after a particularly nasty verbal sparring match, to leave him alone with his thoughts and with his dying daughter. It was the least she could do. She felt responsible. If she had insisted they leave the base a day earlier like Jacob wanted they could have avoided this situation entirely. They could have arrived on Kekoa the day that Sam was being sold, and they could have bought her, no matter what the price, because this price was too much to bear. Ultimately Selmak knew that Sam would never survive, unless by some miracle they were rescued.

Jacob's melancholy mood and his ranting about blackness penetrated Selmak's consciousness and she moved forward to try and comfort her host.

_Jacob?_

Nothing.

_Jacob, please. I want to help._

_There is nothing you can do Selmak, _said her host in a voice that made her shiver. There was something there that she had never heard before. What was it? Defeat. Jacob had almost given up.

--- --- ---

"I see it," said the Jaffa at the controls. "What shall we do my lord?"

"Board them, but take care, I want them both alive. I want to torture them slowly."

"Yes my lord," said Baal's first prime as he left through a side door to prepare the men he would need.

"My lord," said the Jaffa at the controls once again.

"What?"

"I'm picking up another ship, it just exited hyperspace."

There as a long pause, then the Jaffa turned around to speak once again, his face pale. "My lord we cannot win this fight."

--- --- ---

Jacob cursed at the top of his lungs as he watched the ship turn and enter hyperspace. Their only chance of survival was gone, but in his anger he failed to notice the arrival of the second ship, and it wasn't until he found himself standing in front of a large row of space facing windows that he realized he had just been beamed aboard.

He immediately switched into warrior mode, ready for anything, but the small alien creature that sat at the control panel before him was the last thing that he had expected. A million different emotions surged though him at one time, but happiness and relief where the two main ones. Despite his grief and despair he actually smiled at the gray, wide eyed alien.

The alien blinked blankly at him before acknowledging his presence.

"Welcome," said Thor.

--- --- ---

Sam smiled up at her father from her bed in the infirmary. She had been surprised to wake up at the SGC because the last thing she remembered was seeing Baal looming over her, knife in hand, threatening to plunge it through her heart.

Apparently he had, because her father told her that she had almost died while they drifted through space. If the Asgard Thor hadn't arrived when he did and brought them back to earth, she would have been dead days ago.

"So what are you going to do know," asked Jacob as Sam finished changing into her civilian clothes.

"I'm going to go home and take a nice, long bath. Maybe I'll go over and see Cassie and Janet. You know, I know that every time we step through the stargate there is a chance that we won't be coming back, and after everything that has happened to me I should have known better than to believe nothing would happen on that mission."

Sam sighed as she exited the elevator with her father and walked out into the bright sunshine. "There in no such thing as a routine mission." She turned around and hugged her father.

"My experience made me realize something else."

"What's that?"

"I've been holding back, in a lot of ways. Now, I know that tomorrow is not promised to anyone, and though I may regret the things I did, I may regret the things that I didn't do even more. So no more regrets and no more holding back."

Jacob laughed," I've been trying to tell you that for years. You can't let anything stand in you way."

"Yeah," said Sam as she spotted her CO walking across the parking lot. "And you know something dad, you were right. I'll see you later."

Sam breathed in a breath of fresh spring air and walked away from her father towards her car, towards her CO, and towards her life anew.

END

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